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Monday, January 7, 2013

Hade Headed To Sherbrooke

The Saint John Sea Dogs have made yet another trade.

The team announced today that 18-year old defenseman
Benjamin Hade has been traded to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in exchange for a
fourth-round pick in the 2014 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft.

Hade was a fourth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in 2010. He
has only appeared in 17 career QMJHL games – 12 this year and five last season.
He has one assist this year with the Dogs and missed much of the first half
with a concussion.

This is a bit of unexpected trade as it appeared Hade had
potential to be a solid d-man with Saint John. In a release, Sea Dogs head
coach and general manager Mike Kelly said he wanted to send Hade to a team
where he’d get more playing team.

“This move was made to give Benjamin an opportunity to
play,” said Kelly. “With Ben we had nine defensemen and he would have had to
take his turn sitting out games. Ben deserves a chance to play regularly, and when
the opportunity came to move him to a team where he would get that chance we
decided it was probably good for him. We wish Ben good luck and thank him for
everything he has done for his team.”

Saint John’s defense currently features four rookies in
Steven Duda, Olivier LeBlanc, Jeremy Doucet, and Jurij Repe. The team also
traded for Michael Abbott and brought back Ian Saab. David Weckworth and Pierre
Durepos are the others on the backend.

With Hade gone and Jonathan Huberdeau headed to Florida,
LeBlanc, Sebastien Auger, and Alex Fournier are the only Quebec-born players on
the Sea Dogs’ roster.

The QMJHL’s trade deadline is tomorrow at 1pm.

The Sea Dogs are back in action on Friday night in
Rimouski. They visit Hade and the Phoenix on Sunday.